Hildesheimer Pumpernickel Kekse - A Traditional German Cookie

Hildesheimer Pumpernickel Cookies came to my attention in a most unexpected manner. Our friend Bill, who may well be our most uncookingest friend ever, just sent me the recipe, which he got from Brigitte, a friend of his from Hildesheim, Germany, who sends him a batch every year at the holidays. Of course, he's never actually made the recipe. 

Having met her while she was traveling in the US, he then visited her and her friends and family in Hildesheim. She made these cookies during his stay, and he enjoyed them and appreciated her kindness in making them, but didn't right away think they were anything to write home about. But then he found himself going back again and again for just one more. 

He said, "I'm not really sure what it is about them that's gotten such a hold of me, or whether this is just yet another eccentricity on my part ..." (I am a huge fan of eccentricity!), but he eagerly awaits the annual shipment from Brigitte. And with an introduction like that, I simply had to try them. And now I know what he meant!

If you like a less pale cookie, give them an egg wash before they go into the oven. Also, I think mine are paler than usual (no idea why I'm assuming that, I've not seen so much as a photo of these cookies!) because my natural foods store was out of regular almond meal so I bought the super-fine almond flour made from blanched almonds. 

My directions I typed out for you below use a 1.5-inch/4 cm measure for the cookies, but I actually ended up doing a 1.125-inch/3 cm measure because that happens to be the width of my 18-inch metal kitchen ruler. I think that just makes life simpler, don't you?! The recipe makes a little over 11 dozen of that size, not sure how many of the larger. 

This is only my second German recipe on the blog--the first was Golumpkis. So I didn't know whether to call them cookies, as in the US, or biscuits, as in the UK; so I Googled it and came up with "kekse." 

If that is incorrect, do let me know. (Whenever I do a translation on the internet, I always worry that it's going to turn out to be something obscene!) And let me know if you've ever heard of this crunchy little cookie. I love your comments. Guten Appetit! 

Hildesheimer Pumpernickel Kekse (Cookies or Biscuits) 

(Makes 11 dozen of the smaller size biscuits/cookies) 

2 dip-and-sweep cups (10 ounces/283 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour*
1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground anise seed
1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) salt
5 tablespoons (2.5 ounces/71 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (5.25 ounces/149 grams) sugar
1 large (2.19 ounces/62 grams in shell) egg
3/4 packed cup + 2 tablespoons (3.5 ounces/100 grams) ground hazelnuts or almonds (nut flour/meal) or half of each (I used Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Almond Flour)
A little water, only if needed (See Note below Step 2) 

* For gluten-free: use 3/4 cup sorghum flour, 3/4 cup potato starch, 1/2 cup tapioca flour, 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum in place of flour. 

1 In small bowl, whisk together flour (or gluten-free ingredients above), baking powder, spices and salt. 

2 With electric mixer, cream butter well. Add sugar; continue creaming. Beat in egg until well mixed. Beat in almond and/or hazelnut meal, then beat in flour. If dough is too dry, mix in a little water just a teaspoon at a time. Scrape out onto piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap, shape into a rectangle about 5x7 inches/13x18 cm, wrap and chill for about 30 minutes. 

Note: Even when the dough is "right," it won't be a cohesive dough without using your hand; so don't be too quick to add water. Squeeze it with your hand to see when it will hold together. My dough was quite dry, so I added water a tablespoon at a time, working the dough with my hand, and ultimately added 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup/2 fluid ounces/59 ml). The dough should be quite stiff and leave a clean bowl.

3 Preheat oven to 350F/180C/Gas4. On very lightly floured piece of parchment paper, roll dough into 1/8- to 3/16-inch/3 to 4 mm thick rectangle, about 10x18-inch/19x30 cm (trimmed; you will re-roll trimmings). Cut into 1.5-inch/4 cm wide strips, then cut across strips diagonally (the same 1.5-inch/4 cm spacing) to form diamonds (our eccentric friend called them "parallelograms"). With a small offset spatula, lift the cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about half an inch apart. Bake for about 15 minutes; edges will be just barely starting to brown. 

Note: If the dough is too warm and you're having difficulty getting the diamonds onto the baking sheet, chill the whole thing for a few minutes. Leaving the cut dough on its parchment, place it on a baking sheet and pop it into the freezer for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet. If desired, brush top of cookies with a "wash" of beaten egg yolk; I didn't.